Chong weighs in on same-sex marriage, niqab in Tory leadership launch

The old familiar political division between the left and right doesn’t exist anymore, Conservative MP Michael Chong said Monday as he made official his bid for the party leadership, joined by his wife and three boys.

“In the United States, we have candidates for the two parties, the Democrats and Republicans, who aren’t from their political traditions — from their political ideology — and I think it’s the same thing here in Canada,” Chong told reporters in French in Ottawa’s National Press Theatre.

Conservative MP Michael Chong alongside with his wife Carrie and their three boys William, Alistair and Cameron make their way to a press conference in Ottawa on Monday, May 16, 2016. iPolitics/Matthew Usherwood

If his kick-off was any indication, he’s trying to apply that to his own campaign and make it difficult to pigeonhole him as a specific type of Conservative candidate.

There are certain Conservative principles he shares and shared with Stephen Harper, of course — “a relentless drive” to reduce taxes, deliver government programs efficiently, and expand free trade.

But he won’t avoid taking strong positions on debates that divide his party.

“I support same-sex marriage. I believe families are the core building block of society and if two people want to make that long commitment and formalize that, I think we should respect that and we should welcome that as Conservatives,” he said when asked about a debate expected at the party’s upcoming convention.

“Carbon pricing has arrived in Canada. We have two provincial governments that have carbon taxes already in place…We have two provinces, Quebec and Ontario, that are joining the Western Climate Initiative — a cap and trade system. The real question is what we do with the revenues,” he said.

“As a Conservative, I believe we should be using these revenues to reduce income taxes.”

Corporate taxes would also be a candidate for a reduction, he clarified, because “it’s always been the Conservative philosophy” to shift taxation from income to consumption.

“It’s the reason why the government of Mr. Mulroney in the 1980s introduced the Goods and Services Tax, and it’s good Conservative economic theory to do that,” he said, leaving unaddressed the Harper government’s two per cent GST cut.

On the Conservative Party’s decision to propose a Barbaric Cultural Practices tip line during the last campaign, which was rolled out by one of his competitors for the leadership, Kellie Leitch — Chong, the son of Chinese and Dutch immigrants, was decisive.

“I think, obviously, I wouldn’t have introduced the Barbaric Cultural Practices hotline. That said, I agree with the (Conservative) government’s decision on the niqab, in respect of citizenship ceremonies,” he explained.

“Look, we live in a free society and people can wear what they want. However, I also believe that in a free and democratic society, it is reasonable under section one of the Charter for the state to put a limit on that right in very limited circumstances.”

Those limited circumstances are the citizenship ceremony and court cases where a witness’ face might need to be seen to gauge the veracity of their testimony, he explained.

“I’m running because it’s time for new leadership for Canada,” Chong said. “It’s time to attract new people to the Conservative Party.”